Jonas Olofsson

communicate they send an electric signal through little holes at the roof of the the nasal cavity and the base of the skull actually has little perforations and those those little holes that's where the neurons travel up to the brain and from there all kinds of weird and exciting things happen when the brain is supposed to tease apart very complex signals that are

coming from the nose so that we are able to to tell apart different smells to remember them to have an emotional reaction to them all these things take place in the the central parts of our brain one of the things i think people wonder about the sense of smell is that we smell things

coming from the nose so that we are able to to tell apart different smells to remember them to have an emotional reaction to them all these things take place in the the central parts of our brain one of the things i think people wonder about the sense of smell is that we smell things

coming from the nose so that we are able to to tell apart different smells to remember them to have an emotional reaction to them all these things take place in the the central parts of our brain one of the things i think people wonder about the sense of smell is that we smell things

Yeah, so it's believed that the most fundamental function that the sense of smell has is for us to detect chemical hazards or nutritious and pleasurable food sources at a distance. So we can navigate away from certain things and towards other things, and that helps us to survive. This is found in very simple organisms. It's called chemotaxis.

Yeah, so it's believed that the most fundamental function that the sense of smell has is for us to detect chemical hazards or nutritious and pleasurable food sources at a distance. So we can navigate away from certain things and towards other things, and that helps us to survive. This is found in very simple organisms. It's called chemotaxis.

Yeah, so it's believed that the most fundamental function that the sense of smell has is for us to detect chemical hazards or nutritious and pleasurable food sources at a distance. So we can navigate away from certain things and towards other things, and that helps us to survive. This is found in very simple organisms. It's called chemotaxis.

That's when a little amoeba swims towards sucrose, if you put it in a little dish. So it's a very basic kind of attraction and revulsion mechanism. And that helps the organism to survive. So I think that's kind of built into our brains and our genetics. But then...

That's when a little amoeba swims towards sucrose, if you put it in a little dish. So it's a very basic kind of attraction and revulsion mechanism. And that helps the organism to survive. So I think that's kind of built into our brains and our genetics. But then...

That's when a little amoeba swims towards sucrose, if you put it in a little dish. So it's a very basic kind of attraction and revulsion mechanism. And that helps the organism to survive. So I think that's kind of built into our brains and our genetics. But then...

What we have as mammals, we have a great capacity to learn, to learn to associate which are the smells that made us sick, which are the smells that turned out to be really nutritious and good food. And then we carry those memories with us. And when we smell something, our emotional reactions are to a large extent shaped by those prior experiences and emotional reactions that we had before.

What we have as mammals, we have a great capacity to learn, to learn to associate which are the smells that made us sick, which are the smells that turned out to be really nutritious and good food. And then we carry those memories with us. And when we smell something, our emotional reactions are to a large extent shaped by those prior experiences and emotional reactions that we had before.

What we have as mammals, we have a great capacity to learn, to learn to associate which are the smells that made us sick, which are the smells that turned out to be really nutritious and good food. And then we carry those memories with us. And when we smell something, our emotional reactions are to a large extent shaped by those prior experiences and emotional reactions that we had before.

Yeah, so a prior experience is one thing, but the individual receptor genetics, so those are the genes that are expressed in us as individuals that create those receptor cells that enable us to pick up certain molecules, those differ to a large extent from person to person, and that can have consequences for how strongly do we pick up on certain notes.

Yeah, so a prior experience is one thing, but the individual receptor genetics, so those are the genes that are expressed in us as individuals that create those receptor cells that enable us to pick up certain molecules, those differ to a large extent from person to person, and that can have consequences for how strongly do we pick up on certain notes.

Yeah, so a prior experience is one thing, but the individual receptor genetics, so those are the genes that are expressed in us as individuals that create those receptor cells that enable us to pick up certain molecules, those differ to a large extent from person to person, and that can have consequences for how strongly do we pick up on certain notes.

so for example someone's body odor might smell very strong and unpleasant to one person whereas for a different person it's it's okay or even even very nice but there was one interesting study in iceland so they have this local tradition of of eating fermented shark which smells very stinky to most people but those who perceive

so for example someone's body odor might smell very strong and unpleasant to one person whereas for a different person it's it's okay or even even very nice but there was one interesting study in iceland so they have this local tradition of of eating fermented shark which smells very stinky to most people but those who perceive

so for example someone's body odor might smell very strong and unpleasant to one person whereas for a different person it's it's okay or even even very nice but there was one interesting study in iceland so they have this local tradition of of eating fermented shark which smells very stinky to most people but those who perceive

this smell to be less strong, they might be able to sort of overcome this smell in order to eat food that might keep them alive. And so a particular version of this gene that makes this smell less strong is overrepresented in the Icelandic population, which has been heavily dependent on a fish diet. So I find that absolutely fascinating.